Release head tension and lighten your load
We get headaches for a variety of reasons. They can be related to muscular tension, sinus blockages, hormonal imbalances, vascular pressures, and so on. Sometimes it just feels like your head is about to explode because you’re overloaded with information or worry. Headaches can show up in different parts of your head: the base of the head, temples, jaw, behind the eyes, above the eyebrows, at the forehead, or on top of the head. Because of such a variety of causes and locations, it is impossible to make a practice that works for all situations and all people. Instead, in this yoga practice, we will focus on familiarizing ourselves with our headache patterns to get a better understanding of where it hurts and in what way. Oftentimes simply shining the light of awareness on our sensations helps us release chronically held tensions and settle our nervous system.
In this practice, we will use very simple movements done close to the ground, specific gaze positioning, prolonged exhalation, and directed attention to release mental and physical tension from your head and lighten your literal and metaphorical load. For this practice, we will need a rolled-up hand towel to support the curve of the neck and another small towel or eye pillow to cover the eyes. Please feel free to skip any movements or techniques that feel inappropriate for your situation. Please give it a try and let me know how it feels!
Olga can you please comment on the use of the lateral eye movement and the contra lateral eyes with twist . I do feel a much smoother flow of energy to and in my head after this practice. Thanks so much.🌸🌸
Hi Carol! Thank you for your comment and sorry that I missed it earlier. The eye movement is interesting, isn’t it? It’s supposed to help with vagus nerve activation through the cranial nerves and it is particularly useful for the types of headaches that originate in suboccipital muscles (I wrote bit about them here) I learned this maneuver from this book and found it to be really useful for headaches both for myself and my students. I am glad that it worked for you, too!